Captivate 2010: Dead Rising 2 Doubles the Undead Destruction

Capcom’s throwing another hapless dude into a modern American zombie horde later this year and they’re finally talking about what the experience will be like.

The game’s story focuses on Chuck Green, an extreme sports type of guy who’s trapped in a Las Vegas-style town with his daughter when a zombie outbreak hits. DR2 sports a slightly, trashy satirical vibe that Capcom honcho Keiji Inafune says is a result of a fusion of Japanese and American game development sensibilities. Producers say there will be some connection to the first Dead Rising game and Capcom will be releasing a downloadable prelude to Dead Rising 2 called Case Zero that fills in some gaps.

Unlike its predecessor, Dead Rising 2 will feature full campaign co-op. Both players will play using a version of main character Chuck Green and you and a buddy will be able to collectively mow down hordes of the undead. If one of you gets overwhelmed and goes down, the healthy partner will need to find some food to revive the hurt Chuck with.

Aside from the co-op, I can already tell that one of DR2’s most addictive elements will be the create-a-weapon feature. In the zombie-infested world of Fortune City, Chuck will be able to find objects like toy helicopters, baseball bats, car batteries and rakes. Then at designated areas (like a tucked-away workroom), he’ll join item together with duct tape and come up with devilishly ingenious implements of zombie destruction. Car battery + rake = electric rake and lots of electrocuted bad guys. Super soaker water gun + gasoline = makeshift flamethrower. That toy helicopter? It’s part of a new class of luring weapons, which emit light or noise in a way that the shamblers can’t resist. Tape some gasoline to it and each blade of the copter shoots out flames, meaning that the zombies can’t help but walk towards a fiery death.

Expect more details on Dead Rising 2, out this summer, in the coming weeks.